immacunesiibfandomcom-20200213-history
House Texier
Earlier History Though not of a long and noble lineage, the nobles of House Texier were once a great royal house based on Clarke that vied for rulership of the known worlds. They were central to the reclamation of Clarke , having perhaps the largest surface navy, and used it to create a large fief in the central islands of the sea. House Texier expanded to Errovus Secondus and also had holdings on Incellia and Arrakis. During the scramble for artifacts of the Grand Republic their aggressive posturing and open annexation of what other houses considered their territory led to prolonged wars of attrition and ultimately their near extinction. As well as a fief on Incellia that now comprises the Klorin holding of Dornach and the large plain to the south of it, the holding on Arrakis expanded to dominate the huge plain to the northwest of what is now House Killgore's fief as well as encompassing some of what is now a Regency fief, and the fief on Clarke, based around the capital of Grand Texier near the south pole, became unparalleled in size, even taking over some of the area between Refuge and Absolution, the Tsedeq fiefs. It also conquered in a war the fiefs of House Choyr far to the northeast of Grand Texier. Soon it also encroached on the various fiefs of the 'Als, Klorin, and Tsedeq; the Killgore plundered the fief on Arrakis mercilessly and sent overwhelming forces that did enormous harm on Clarke as well. This precipitated a major coalition against the Texier, who, despite their three large fiefs and the small one on Incellia, not to mention highly extensive resources and salvaged technology, were overcome by the combined forces of their enemies by 2220. The wide dispersal of Texier forces over the large number of disparate small fiefs on Clarke , stretching across the islands right from Grand Texier almost to Inverness, helped to ensure that House Texier could not hold out easily on Clarke . King Riustyi Texier, hard pressed by the forces of House Klorin and House 'Als and the freebooters of House Killgore, tried to save the fiefdoms on Clarke by going personally with his teenage nephew, Jyut, to Incellia to surrender Dornach to Dain Kawalen, but Riustyi was murdered by a Killgore assassin. Jyut, remarkably, escaped with the royal Sceptre to Errovus Secondus with the use of his eloquence and charm, and returned to Errovus Secondus; the nobility of Clarke, with their forces exhausted, were forced to flee to Errovus Secondus as well, and the two sceptre-holders on Clarke were captured and shot, their sceptres appropriated by the victors. On Errovus Secondus , House Texier was forced to give up a sizeable portion of its continent, including some advanced scientific facilities, to the Imperial offices, and all that remained of the House's former technological advancement was its possession of facilities for the study of complex systems, and the unparalled political academy. What had not been completely ransacked by the Killgore on Arrakis was given up to the Regency. Jyut Texier was acclaimed King by his nobles for getting back the sceptre and for being generally a promising youth, despite the existence of Riustyi's sons; Jyut's brother Peirt was second in command. On Peirt's death, Guiss, his younger son, succeeded to the position, as the elder son, Luins, was mentally unstable; and now, the tradition of a younger nephew is even becoming established as Guiss is on the point of resigning responsibility to Luins's son Endymion. For the remaining eighty years of the century, while other Royal houses followed their example and collapsed, House Texier managed to secure its survival by giving up their holdings beyond Errovus Secondus and becoming masters of Noble and Courtly etiquette. In so doing, they also become politically neutral - friends to all and enemies of none. Polite, cultured, bureaucratic and extremely sophisticated these nobles often lend themselves to the education of the youth of more prestigious houses. Their lack of assets and political bent allowed them to become valued neutral arbitrators in noble conflicts, a position that they hold sacrosanct. This also gave them a growing degree of influence and prestige as more and more nobles of other houses come to rely upon them to act as advisors, seneschals and chamberlains. Recent History Jyut Texier held the Eye command in the last three years before Vladimir Eekin's coronation and death in 2300, and carried out his duties from Assimov; the years were uneventful in terms of intelligence operations, although some abnormality, caused by the presence of the then unknown planet Oghma, was noticed in the jumpgate. House Texier played an important role in eliminating the plague on Errovus Secondus that was brought about by Dain Kawalen, because a Regency spy was caught trying to place what turned out to be a vaccine for the plague in Jyut Texier's food. The substance was investigated by the Imperial Eye and was soon distributed on Errovus Secondus. Texier lands suffered relatively little from the plague, and in its wake House Texier acquired the deserted Authority fiefdom to its south for itself. Following the demise of the Authority in a nuclear war, House Texier started to found the colony of Apolorise on the southern Authority continent. House Texier continues to continue its unparalleled research into complex systems and its traditional neutrality, never participating in disputes while still taking a highly active role in Imperial politics. House Texier hopes, in the long term, to improve its position on Errovus Secondus and some Texier dream of a return to their home on Clarke some day. For now, though, House Texier contents itself with serving the Imperium in the Fleet and with developing its agriculture and navy on Errovus Secondus. Government and Nobility House Texier is, and always has been, a monarchy ruled solely by the King, but, when the House relocated to Errovus Secondus, Jyut gave up the title of King, under severe pressure from the other Houses, and now calls himself Patriarch instead. He hopes he may be able to resume the title in more favourable times. The Patriarchy, within the house, is passed on to one of the deceased Patriarch's relatives, but at the discretion of the Texier Council of State. In recent years, though, succession has not been a very frequent occurrence, because of the Kings mostly holding Sceptres. Otherwise, the Council exists to advise the Patriarch. Otherwise, though, the authority of Jyut Texier is absolute, and his second-in-command is chosen invariably from his nearest relatives. Therefore no other families approach the power of the Texier family itself, and, indeed, many of the lesser offices of state are filled by others who bear the surname Texier from other branches of the family, including what used to be the Clarke, Incellia, and Arrakis branches. Members of these families distinguish themselves with their peculiar custom of, respectively, having three names for Clarke, having exotic-sounding double-barrelled surnames where Texier is the first half and the second half is entirely made up for Incellia, and beginning their first names with M for Arrakis (a feature rarely found in the Texier language elsewhere). Indeed, the large numbers of refugees from these three planets mean that there are enough nobles with the surname "Texier" to fill more than half the offices of state; other surnames are very numerous and varied, being held by the very numerous lesser gentry families of House Texier, but few of these surnames leap out from the list as being any more distinguised than any of the rest. Indeed, this, the fact that few lesser have had any chance to distinguish themselves above the rest, is very much the effect that neutrality and peace has on a fiefdom like High Texier. Examples of names in House Texier's nobility: Poestin Texier is a first cousin three times removed of Jyut Texier, who holds the position of Lord Chamberlain. Esthyin vam-Blingel Texier is the grandson of one of the former sceptre-holders on Clarke. Theloyinkel Texier-Inkelheim is a Texier noble whose uncle was once governor of the Texier fief on Incellia. Megano Texier is a Texier noble descended from the family that used to manage the Royal Demesne land in Arrakis. John Cwenten is a moderately prosperous noble who holds a dozen villages on the north coast and the farms in the vicinity.